Occasional musings on a variety of things.

Cock

In different countries, people speak different languages. That includes onomatapoeia, as I learned in high-school Japanese. Apparently dogs go, “Wan! Wan!” Stupid Japanese people. Dogs go, “Woof! Woof!” This is why you lost the war. NationMaster (which is pretty cool) has a list of different onomatapoeia from around the world for the sound a cock makes. Cock.

The list is below, but that’s not the point of this post. I have found something very much cooler. Quack Project has mp3s of little kids from around the world doing their locally flavoured impression of farm-animal noises. In addition to being fascinating, it is also four times as cute as a button. And it’s not just the language filters on the ears. Animals, like cows and birds, actually have different accents depending on where they’re from.

My favourite Japanese onomatopoeia is their sound for boiling water. “Schucka-schucka-schucka” I’d render it. The Japanese person I was talking to was quite surprised I didn’t know what they were referring to.